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FeedJan 2, 2013 05:15 AM WV Sound
Keeping a beat in the Mountain State
WV’s David F. Bello Takes a Step Forward with Connecticut Band
Photo Courtesy of David F. Bello
Over six years, numerous records, and much collaboration, West Virginia native David F. Bello became known to many as the singer/songwriter in Morgantown. In the early 2000s, David was like a local celebrity in North Central West Virginia, as crowds cheered him on at countless shows at the local music club, 123 Pleasant Street. Now removed from Morgantown, David’s no longer just a local star. These days, he’s the new lead singer of The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die (TWIABP), a post-hardcore, emo band based in Connecticut. (And yes, that is one band name.)
To put it in perspective, TWIABP has more than 10,000 fans on Facebook. The band tours across the East Coast and has several EPs on the indie label Topshelf Records. Even young music lovers in the upper Ohio Valley know and love them.
After a brief stint playing music in Brooklyn, New York, David received an offer from longtime friend Derrick Shanholtzer, TWIABP guitarist, to join the band. Now in Willimantic, Connecticut, David works from his home—a house venue also known as The Handsome Woman. The band practices there, and David says living there helps him devote all of his time and energy to the music. The move has been a process. “I feel like ‘the new guy’ a little,” David says. “But I’ve made a ton of fast friends since I’ve gotten here, and I know Derrick has expressed to them a great deal of trust from having known my past work.”
TWIABP’s first full-length album will be released in spring 2013. For now, the band plans to play shows in Rochester, New York, Richmond, Virginia, and Boston, Massachusetts. The band will perform in Pittsburgh on January 6, 2013, at the venue 222 Ormsby. “This is definitely a step forward for me,” David says. “All of the bands I was in in Morgantown didn’t tour at all, and I’ve always wanted that.”
